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The Flood
The Flood, designated as LF.Xx.3273 by the Forerunners (Latin Inferi redivivus meaning "the dead reincarnated") and referred to as The Parasite or The Infection by the Covenant, is a species of highly virulent parasitic organisms that reproduce and grow by consuming sentient lifeforms of sufficient biomass and cognitive capability. The Flood was responsible for consuming most of the sentient lifeforms in the galaxy - including the vast majority of Forerunners - during the Forerunner-Flood War in ancient past, prompting the activation of the galaxy-sterilizing Halo Array in 97,445 BC. The Flood are an extremely (extremely being a huge understatement) dangerous threat to the universe. They reproduce by consuming any and all forms of life. It has engaged many factions in the Milk way galaxy for just over 100,000 years, almost causing the extinction of thousands of different species including the Forerunners and the Humans. The Flood is the reason behind the development of the Halo Rings, built to starve the parasite by destroying its food source. Ancient History Origins It is unknown (with the exception of a few factions which keeps the information top-secret) where exactly the Flood comes from or what created it. Due to highly desensitized information being thoroughly processed before it was released across military databases, and from there public knowledge, it is generally believed across all peoples that the Flood is an extragalactic species which migrated to the Milky Way from outside the galaxy. Some have theorized through ancient records that the Flood came to the Milky Way from the Large Magellanic Cloud, with various thoughts on the Flood either originating there or having came to the LMC from yet another galaxy. Forerunner-Flood War Once the Flood came into the Milky Way Galaxy, small discoveries of the Parasite were made by the host species. Controlled data states the truth on how Ancient Humanity was the first to be haunted by the Flood, with most public sources citing the Forerunners were the ones that first came into contact with the Parasite. Either way, the most well-known galactic war in ancient history involving the Flood is the Forerunner-Flood War, which had a number of significant events happen. The Flood first used small-scale tactics to quickly cover vast distances across the galaxy while going relatively unnoticed. Initially underestimating the parasite, the Forerunners used tactics more akin to disease control rather than actual warfare to halt the Flood. Once the Forerunners became aware of the threat of the Flood, the parasite had already settled on hundreds of planets, and had begun assimilating the local life-forms. Soon, the Flood adopted another strategy of hiding aboard unarmed civilian ships which would bypass fleet and planetary defenses, only to quickly overwhelm the population of entire worlds on the surface, using their sheer numbers to defeat the technologically superior defenders. This helped the Flood gain extraordinary numbers in short time; what made it worse was that with every creature that was consumed, the Flood became vastly more intelligent. In a horrific, remarkably brief period of time, the Flood went from a shambling, unthinking virulent plague to a smart, planning legion of conciouslly linked units, that began formulating strategies to counter the capabilities of the Forerunners and any other species they came across. All-out war broke out across the galaxy, with the Forerunners desperately adopting any strategy they could come up with, and developing weapons and ships to face the Flood; however, with every soldier they lost, the Flood gained a new warrior, and with each commander consumed, the Flood took on the intelligence of the Forerunners, learning the closely-guarded secrets and tactics the Forerunners tried to keep from being stolen. Even with the Forerunner's use of automated war systems such as Sentinels, the Flood grew too strong to fight with conventional warfare. Eventually, the Forerunners realized that the only way they could ever hope to defeat the Flood was to deprive them of their resources: life with which to consume. At first, the Forerunners would bomb civillian populations in despiration to slow the advance of the Flood; later, it became necessary to initiate premature stellar collapses, causing stars to go supernova and destroying several orbiting planets at once. This had limited success, however, and also had the effect of lowering Forerunner infrastructure and morale. The situation grew even more terrifying once the Forerunner's supreme strategic AI, Mendicant Bias, succombed to the Logic Plague and joined the Flood, using its highly effective tactics against its creators. In order for any hope of survival to be preserved, the Forerunners had to deprive the Flood of their food on a galactic scale. And so, the Forerunners began work on their swift and terrible sword to strike down the Flood at the cost of all life: the Halo Array. Halo Activation Near the end of the Forerunner-Flood War, the parasite had almost complete control over the Milky Way Galaxy, and were close to defeating the Forerunners. With this, there would be nothing to stop the Flood from consuming all the rest of the life of the galaxy, hunting down every last living creature and taking it cell by cell. The Forerunner's last military bastion, held behind the heavily fortified Maginot Line, was soon beset by Mendicant Bias and its fleet of Flood-controlled ships. Upon success, the Flood would have virtually no challenge before them that would be able to stop them from taking the Galaxy. Thankfully, the Forerunners had completed the Halo Array, and upon activation all life was instantly wiped out across the galaxy in the blink of an eye. Stunned, the Flood at the Maginot Line was quickly wiped out by the Forerunners, and Mendicant Bias was captured. The remaining surviving Forerunners waited for the rest of the Flood across the galaxy to slowly starve and die off before repopulating the Milky Way with its species, and afterwards retreating into exile. Some small collections of Flood that hadn't yet died off were contained by the Forerunners and held within research facilities across various Forerunner installations, studied by Forerunner automatons so that the galaxy would be ready in the event that the Flood would ever return. Modern Times Etran Harborage The UNSC first encountered the Flood on Shield World 0459, discovered by the Phoenix-class colony vessel Spirit of Fire. The Shield World was hevily overtaken by the Flood following a catastrophic failure in containment during a local breakout sometime in the past, allowing the Flood to spread over a great amount of the Shield World's surface. However, until the arrival of the Covenant and UNSC in 2531, they had no way to escape the Shield World to spread their infection. After a series of events involving multiple battles between the UNSC, Covenant, Flood infestaion and local Forerunner defenses, the shield world was destroyed, its core exploding when the Spirit's Shaw-Fujikawa slipspace drive was retrofitted into a makeshift bomb. The Spirit and its crew would be left adrift in space, without a means to travel back to UNSC territory and did not have enough power in communications to inform the UNSC of the Flood. Their story did not come to light until their rediscovery in 2558, by which time the UNSC had already encountered the Flood through other means. Installation 04 The first time the Flood came to the knowledge of the UNSC was after the Battle of Installation 04, which occurred immediately after the Fall of Reach in September of 2552. Amidst the conflict between the crew of the UNSC Pillar of Autumn and the Covenant's Fleet of Particular Justice on Halo, the Flood, contained within research stations, remained undiscovered to their unwary visitors for quite some time. Eventually, a Covenant team would attempt to penetrate one of these research stations, unknowing of the threat contained within; accidentally releasing the Flood, the Covenant barely managed to seal the parasite back in before being defeated by the UNSC, who also unknowingly stumbled upon the Flood shortly after. This time, the Flood was able to escape free onto the surface of the Halo, causing the Installation's monitor, 343 Guilty Spark, to initiate containment protocols, initiating a series of battles between the parasite and the Installation's Sentinels. Over the course of the next few days, the Flood managed to spread over a significant fraction of Halo, and came close to escaping the ring on one of the Covenant's ships, the Truth and Reconciliation. Fortunately, thanks to the efforts of Master Chief John-117, the Flood was defeated after he set the Pillar of Autumn to self-destruct, damaging the Halo enough to cause the structural stress to tear the ring apart. Whatever Flood Forms were not killed from the blast or the immediate effects of the Halo being ripped apart were soon after wiped out from the failure of life-support technology on the Halo's fragments, with some pieces burning up and being crushed in Threshold's atmosphere or burning up in Threshold's moon Basis, some pieces even crashing into the moon with great force. Installation 05 The second known encounter by the UNSC occurred shortly after the first part of the Battle of Earth, when the Prophet of Regret's Assault Carrier arrived at Installation 05, pursued by the UNSC In Amber Clad. The Installation was soon discovered to have suffered from a significant breach in containment due to neglect by the Halo's monitor, 2401 Penitent Tangent. The Flood breach had occured long enough in the past that the parasite had, by 2552, reached the Coordinated Stage, having created a Gravemind with which to lead them. The Flood would be opposed by the UNSC, Covenant, and what little Forerunner defenses could be mustered, though thanks to the Gravemind's exploitation of 2401's neglect the Flood was proving unable to keep on the Ring. As the Great Schism occurred over the Halo leaving the Covenant in disarray and fragmentation, the Gravemind captured the UNSC In Amber Clad, boarded the ship and filled it with Flood Forms, directing it to crash in the Covenant's Holy City High Charity. Here, the Flood quickly spread across High Charity far faster than the distracted split Covenant groups could contain it, enabling the Flood to completely overtake the City and absorb all the life present. The Flood also managed to capture the UNSC AI Cortana, who the Gravemind began to torture for information and attempted to convert to the Flood's side. The Covenant Separatists, lead by the Sangheili, were able to quarantine Installation 05 but failed to keep High Charity and one starship from making a slipspace jump. After the remaining Flood fleet was destroyed, the Covenant Separatists finished glassing the Halo before pursuing the Flood. Earth The CCS-class Battlecruiser that slipped out of Quarantine made it to Earth just after the second part of the Battle of Earth. As the Covenant Loyalists activated the Portal at Voi and escaped within, the Flood ship crashed nearby to unleash its Forms to take over the planet. The UNSC desperately fought back, and were soon assisted by the arrival of the Covenant Loyalists; after the local forces were extracted from the area, the Covenant Loyalists proceeded to glass half of the African continent to keep the Flood contained. This worked out, wiping out all Flood forms present on Earth. High Charity, however, was not far away, having arrived outside the Sol system and making its way to Earth. It made it all the way to Mars, practically on Earth's doorstep, before the Gravemind decided to pursue the greater threat of its existence at the Ark, following those that had gone there to end the Covenant threat to the Galaxy. While crashing the Covenant City into the Ark and spreading its minions across the Installation, the Gravemind temporarily worked with the Master Chief and the Arbiter to stop Truth from activating the Halos across the galaxy. After Truth was killed and the Halos deactivated, the Gravemind betrayed its short-term allies, resolving to transfer itself from High Charity to the Ark in an effort to gain control of the Forerunner's only safe haven from the Halos, where it would finally be safe from the Halo Array. The Master Chief managed to enter High Charity and rescue Cortana, escaping with her to put an end to the Flood once and for all. After realizing Cortana's darkest secret she kept from it all this time, the previous Installation 04's Activation Index, the Gravemind moved to quickly stop them before they used it to activate the new Installation 04. It quickly sent waves of Flood Forms at them while also transferring itself onto the new Halo; despite its efforts, however, the Gravemind failed to stop the Master Chief from prematurely activating Installation 04, causing it to begin collapsing with the Flood on it. The Flood suffered a resounding defeat once the new Halo was destroyed, also significantly damaging the Ark to a great extent, managing to wipe out all the Flood that were there. Finally, the Flood was contained once more, and had lost their Gravemind again. Biology The Flood is composed of a variety of specialized forms, each filling a different role in combat. The most basic Flood forms are the infection forms, which come in various types and infect hosts by hijacking their bodies and nervous systems. Infected hosts then undergo a rapid series of transformations, becoming lethal combat forms. Combat forms are used to subdue and secure additional hosts for infection, and once they have outlived their usefulness as warriors, they transform into carrier forms, spreading the Flood by spreading more infection forms. Once the Flood has amassed enough bodies to create a Gravemind, it is capable of generating "Pure" forms, which are created solely from assimilated nutrients and biomass. Capable of surviving extreme environments ranging from -75 to +53 degrees Celsius and even underwater, the Flood can withstand the varied environments of all known inhabited planets. However, the Flood seem to thrive the most in moist and humid areas; it is thought that the extremely cold artificial weather patterns near certain important areas of Forerunner installations are intended to hinder the Flood. In order to give themselves ideal living conditions, the Flood will transform the environment to better suit their needs, altering the atmosphere and covering solid surfaces with Flood biomass. Stages The Flood goes through Four developmental stages: #The Feral stage: The Flood's simplest Stage, during which they communicate via pheromones and have the instinct to harvest enough biomatter to establish a viable Gravemind. #The Coordinated stage: at this point, they are controlled by the Gravemind that was created in the first stage. #The Interstellar stage: the Flood take control of space-faring technology which they use to consume the local star system. Subsequently, they spread throughout the galaxy to infect more hosts. #The Intergalactic stage: a theoretical stage in which the Flood utilizes all captured technology to depart to uninfected galaxies to further replicate. Forms Flood Super-Cell All Flood forms are made up of their most basic form: the Flood Super-Cell, a "thinking muscle" that resembles both neurons and glial cells in tearms of structure. The Flood is capable of arranging these cells in any form to mimic any organ which may be needed. The Flood Super-Cells are manifested in collections of matter referred to as Flood Biomass, which is the basic building structure of any Flood form. The Flood Super-Cell has the ability to absorb and convert any type of living cell into another Flood Super-Cell; the Flood captures and interfaces with the host's cells, which are quickly metabolized, broken down, analyzed, and reassembled into more Flood Cells that mirror the function of the target's cells. The rapid rate of infection makes any Flood Biomass highly dangerous; even though the Flood Spores and Infection Forms are the primary means to infect hosts, the virulent nature of the Flood Super-Cells themselves makes it possible to infect creatures even through transfer of fluids or physical contact with Flood Biomass; merely touching a Flood Form bares the risks of potential infection. Flood Spore The Flood contain their Flood Super-Cells into pockets referred to as Flood Spores. These Spores are primarily transferred into a host by injection through a Flood Infection Form, though can be transferred through other means such as inhalation of raw Spores present in the atmosphere. Flood Tadpole Small Flood creatures referred to as "Tadpoles" have been observed within holding tanks on Flood installations. It is theorized that these are an early stage of the Infection Form, developing and growing until they reach their larger "pod" forms. They appear to be aquatic, or at least have shown to be able to survive in aquatic conditions in their containment units present on Forerunner locations such as Installation 05. Infection Form The Flood Infection Form is the most commonly seen Flood Form, used primarily to infect other forms of sentient life to create Combat Forms. Infection Forms possess several spindly legs which they use to move, and have a few large tendrils with stalks on the end. The Infection Form will latch onto a host, imbed its tendrils into their body and tap into their nervous system to overwrite their conciousness while simultaneously releasing Flood Spores into their body. While preferring live prey, an Infection Form can still make Combat Forms on corpses so long as they are relatively intact. This has the effect of transforming the host into a Combat Form, with varrying degrees of speed; in the Ferral Flood Stage, it may take hours to fully transform a host into a Combat Form, while in more developed stages the Infection Form can create a new Combat Form in a matter of seconds. Once the Combat Form is made, the Infection Form takes control of it, imbedding itself within the central cavity of the host, typically the chest area. An Infection Form can abandon its Combat Form if it takes too much damage. Infection Forms are known to be carried in more advanced Flood Forms, such as Carriers and Pure Forms, where they are released into the environment to infect hosts. Infection Forms are very easy to destroy, requiring little force to damage them to the point that the Infection Form "pops;" since Infection Forms usually come in large groups, it sometimes takes no effort to wipe out whole collections of Infection Forms since they are rather delicate, with one Infection Form popping causing several nearby to also pop, creating a domino effect in which dozens of Infection Forms can be taken out with killing just one. Despite this, they are still very dangerous, and should not be overlooked or underestimated. Combat Form Sentient hosts that are deemed combat-worthy by the Flood are taken over by Flood Infection Forms, where they are transformed into Flood Combat Forms. Depending on the species of the host, a Combat Form can look vastly different from another; however, all Combat Forms possess the same traits. Combat Forms have much of their host's biological material converted into Flood Biomass, have an Infection Form nestled within their central cavity controlling the Combat Form like a puppet (with part of the Infection Form visible from the exterior, notably its stalked tendrils), and one arm modified into a vicious melee weapon sporting large tendrilled claws or whips while the other arm is generally unchanged in shape to allow the Combat Form to access whatever weapon its host was carrying or can pick up from its surroundings. Combat Forms are several times stronger than their original hosts, able to deal tremendous amounts of damage with their melee attacks and leap several meters across the air. Unlike their original hosts, Combat Forms can function without any of their vital organs or body parts, enabling them to survive high-penetrating munitions such as sniper rounds and armor-piercing bullets, tightly collected streams of energy, and can also survive mutilation such as loss of arms, legs, or even decapitating the head. The only way to kill a Combat Form is to either target the Infection Form within its central cavity or completely destroy its entire body. A variety of different Flood Combat Forms exist, based on their hosts. Human Combat Forms are created from infected humans. Typically the weakest of encountered Flood Combat Forms, they nevertheless prove dangerous just as any Combat Form. If they are made from military soldiers, such as UNSC Marines, the Combat Form tends to still use the soldier's personal armor as an extra means of defense, as well as whatever weapon it was carrying. Depending on the armor, Human Combat Forms can also sometimes access energy shielding or active camouflage if it remains functional after infection. Elite Combat Forms are created from infected Sangheili. Stronger than the Human Combat Forms but weaker than Brute Combat Forms, this type of Combat Form proves quite frightening on the battlefield, intimidating their enemy by way of their heads hanging backwards behind their bodies. They are incredible jumpers, using the enhanced musculature of Sangheili legs to propel them much higher and much farther than other Combat Forms. If their host was wearing a typical Sangheili Combat Harness, the Combat Form can sometimes have access to personal energy shielding or active camouflage. Brute Combat Forms are created from infected Jiralhanae. Stronger than Elite Combat Forms, these creatures prove very deadly in close quarters, using their very strong musculature to crush nearby threats or grapple them to prevent their escape. Though sluggish due to their increased mass and weight, one should never underestimate a Brute Combat Form as they make up for it in resilience as well as strength, typically taking more firepower to eliminate compared to other Combat Forms. Some Brute Combat Forms that used Jiralhanae Power Armor can still access their host's energy shield or active camouflage. Carrier Form Flood Carrier Forms are used to propogate the Flood, spreading Infection Forms that they carry in their bodies. Some Carriers are created from Infected hosts that are not feasible for use in combat, while others are made from old or damaged Combat Forms; after an extensive period of time, Combat Forms tend to deteriorate and become less effective in fights. The Flood Cells in their bodies therefore begin to modify the body, growing larger and deformed while incubating several new Infection Forms inside to continue spreading the Flood Infection. Once complete, the transformation results in the creation of a Flood Carrier Form. Carrier Forms are large, bloated, their arms replaced with dangling tendrils which it uses to help sense its environment but fulfill no combative roles. In fact, the Carrier Form is utterly defenseless; however, it does not need to fight, as any amount of damage it takes usually ruptures its bloated body, resulting in a small explosion which releases its Infection Forms inside. Carrier Forms, in this regard, are still highly dangerous, attacking by approaching their targets and either taking fire to rupture their bodies, or getting close to the enemy and rupturing themselves, dealing damage to their target and stunning them, leaving them open for the Infection Forms inside to take their new victims. Pure Form Flood Pure Forms usually refers to any Flood Form encountered on the field that is able to fight combatively and is composed entirely out of Flood Biomass, hence the name "Pure Form." While other Flood Forms exist that are "Purely" made of Flood Biomatter, such as Infection Forms, the term "Pure Form" usually refers to a selective group of Flood Forms seen in later stages of Flood development. A few varieties of Flood Pure Form have been encountered and catalogued, though there could potentially be an endless variety of Pure Forms based on the creativity of the Flood Intelligence during an outbreak. Stalker Forms are Pure Forms that are large and spiderlike in appearance, sporting four legs and a pair of arms ending with claws. Stalkers are fast, nimble, and can make incredible leaps in the blink of an eye and can also cling to any surface. While relatively weak, the Stalkers usually survive in combat through their agility and can quickly transform into either the Tank or Ranged form depending on the threat presented before them. Tank Forms are Pure Forms that tower over humanoid creatures, with developed hides which prove immensely resilient to conventional means of damage. While slow and lumbering, Tank Forms can take a huge amount of punishment before they fall, and their pair of arms ending in reinforced spikes enables them to deal an enormous amount of damage to anything that gets too close. Their only vital spot would be their "face," which they can cover with their arms in a huddle and prove very difficult to deal any damage to. Tank Forms can regurgitate multiple Infection Forms through their face as well. Tank Forms can transform into Stalker or Ranged Forms at any time. Ranged Forms are Pure Forms which anchor themselves in one spot and launch spiked projectiles at their enemies. Ranged Forms are unable to move, since they are anchored to whatever surface they are on, but can be affixed to any surface including walls and ceilings to make them difficult to reach. Their only vulnerable spot is the part that launches hailstorms of spikes at their enemies; if they come under threat, Ranged Forms can close this part to protect themselves but lose their ability to fire their spikes until they open themselves up again. Ranged Forms can transform into Stalker or Tank forms at any time. Juggernaut A rumored "Super Form," the Flood Juggernaut is said to tower over humanoid creatures, be incredibly resilient to damage, and posses a pair of long tentacles which can kill medium-sized creatures in one hit and even destroy vehicles or aircraft. It is only known that Juggernauts were used during the Forerunner-Flood War; if any were sighted in modern times, its nature was kept a closely-guarded secret. It is possible that during a large outbreak, Juggernauts can emerge again. Proto-Gravemind After a certain period of time, Flood Forms during an initial outbreak will reach a significant level of collected intelligence as their numbers grow. They will then seek to establish a center of intelligence from which more complex strategies can be made, making them far more effective. Flood Forms will gather bodies and capture large groups of sentient life, where they will be collected into one combined form that possesses a higher level of thought than the ferral Flood Forms. Once created, the collected mass will be the focus of the Flood's accumulated intelligence, and becomes a Proto-Gravemind Form. The precursor to the highly intelligent Gravemind, the Proto-Gravemind is able to form more complex strategies than typical baseline Flood ferocity, making them more dangerous by learning from its enemies and adapting new tactics to undermine its potential victims. Proto-Graveminds are virtually defenseless, being anchored to one place with large supporting tendrils that upholds its massive weight and too large and bulbous to use any limbs to fight off attackers. Some of the victims used in the creation of the Proto-Gravemind can be seen in its body, with limbs and even faces noticeable across its flesh. Gravemind The center of all Flood Intelligance, the Gravemind is formed once enough Biomass has been gathered by the Flood and added to its Proto-Gravemind, or multiple Proto-Graveminds unified as one depending on how the Flood collected its hosts. The Gravemind is the culmination of a state of critical mass development, automatically being formed once the Flood has collected enough biomass from potentially millions of hosts and their collective minds added to the Flood's own. Developed to the point of sentience, the Gravemind retains all the memories of its hosts and also somehow retains the thoughts and memories of past Graveminds, even if the last Gravemind were lost. The creation of a Gravemind marks the departure from the Feral Stage to the Coordinated Stage; it is able to advance the Flood's threat across entire worlds in the next Interstellar Stage, and can potentially even reach Intergalactic Stage if an entire galaxy is consumed. Further addition to the Gravemind's biomass and intelligence can result in the creation of "Keymind" nodes, which result when an entire planet's full ecosystem is consumed, vastly increasing the Gravemind's intelligence. Gallery Flood 02.jpg|An analysis of the Flood Super-Cells Flood 04.jpg|A Flood Spore in Detail Flood 06.jpg|Analysis of a Flood Infection Form Flood 10.jpg|Analysis of a Human Combat Form Flood 11.jpg|Analysis of an Elite Combat Form Flood 12.jpg|Analysis of a Carrier Form Flood 13.jpg|A Human Combat Form in ODST armor Flood 14.png|A simulated Human Combat Form, made from a Spartan-IV in the UNSC Infinity's "Infection" simulation Trivia *The Flood is actually the result of an effort on the Precursors to gain revenge on their rebellious creation, the Forerunners. Before the Precursors were fully hunted down by the Forerunners, the last of the Precursors altered themselves into a form of dust that preserved them, with their intention that they would one day return and outlast the Forerunners. However, over time the dust deteriorated and, after being used on biological lifeforms for innocent purposes, mutated into the current form of the Flood. This knowledge, once lost for a long time, has since been recently uncovered, but has been kept highly classified top secret to all but a very limited few. Category:Weapon Category:Chaotic Neutral Category:Species Category:Mutants